Prayers for the Damned
by Taney
Summary: After years of waiting, Zero finally returns. Zero x Yuuki


Disclaimer: Don't own Vampire Knight!

Warnings: Character death, non-graphic sexuality

Author's note: Hello! This is my first VK fiction, so feedback is greatly appreciated. I read a good chunk of the manga years ago, but recently got back into VK after watching the second season of the anime. So, basically, this story picks up where the second season left off and therefore might not be compliant with new chapters of the manga. Also, although I don't intend to outright bash Kaname, I'm not his biggest fan. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

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**Prayers for the Damned**_  
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_The puncture marks on his neck had all but faded, yet his lavender eyes were hard and cold._

"_One day I will…I will come to kill you."_

_She smiled slightly, blood trailing from the corner of her lips._

"_I'll be waiting."_

**.oOo.**

Death's tidings came to her on the wind, whispered to her from the shadows. In every dark corner she sensed its looming presence, felt the icy brush of it against her skin, cold and merciless as his touch. And her black heart pounded and her cursed blood raced, and whether from fear or anticipation she could not say.

"Yuuki."

Her lover's voice slid through her like a blade, slow and deliberate, and a shiver ran down her spine as she savored the sensation.

"_Yuuki."_ The invisible knife twisted. "Look at me."

Reluctantly, she turned, wine-colored eyes rising slowly to meet his somber gaze.

"Yes, Kaname?" she asked lightly, watching as his marble features began to crack.

"Don't be coy, Yuuki," he said in a low voice, stepping forward. "Surely you sense it."

He reached out, pale fingers gliding through her dark hair, tilting back her head. In his eyes it simmered, deep and red, a quiet, terrible fury. Her lips parted.

"Yes."

His fingers constricted slightly, sharp nails grazing her scalp.

"Will you go to him?"

The softness of his voice alarmed her, a velvet lash raising gooseflesh on her skin. Resentment seeped from him like blood from an old wound, dark and thick. Never had he been content with only a portion of her love.

"No," she replied, the ghost of a smile on her lips. "He will come to me."

And he was near now, so very near. She could almost hear the beating of his heart.

"Yuuki," Kaname whispered fiercely, desperately, claiming her mouth with his own.

_Farewell_.

Motionless, she watched him go, the sear of his kiss still fresh on her lips, the taste of ashes on her tongue.

**.oOo.**

One century faded into the next, yet he remained unchanged. Silver hair and stony features, and eyes that burned cold fire. He'd thrown open her bedroom door, knocking it off the hinges, her dead lover's blood still smeared across his face.

From her seat at the window, she regarded him calmly, quelling the tide of guilty relief that surged within her.

"Zero," she said softly, rising to meet him. "You've come at last."

He said nothing as he moved towards her, the Bloody Rose still clutched firmly in his hand. The scent of his blood hung heavily in the air, rich and sweet and tempting.

Drawing dangerously closer, he raised the barrel of the gun to her chest, and Yuuki inhaled sharply when the frozen metal kissed her skin. Heavy lidded, she looked up at him in question.

"Are you going to kill me, Zero?"

The faint teasing in her tone seemed to rankle him. His jaw clenched, amethyst eyes flashing angrily. The Bloody Rose bit deeper into her skin.

"Is that what you want?"

Slowly, Yuuki placed her hand to the gun at her chest, lowering it and closing the small distance between them. Zero frowned, his eyes flicking uncertainly from the gun to her face, darkening slightly when he saw how the barrel dragged down the deep neck of her dress.

Pale, delicate fingers lighted on his cheek, drawing him low.

"You know what I want, Zero."

The gun clattered to the floor as he captured her mouth with his, sharp fangs soon piercing swollen lips, the taste of their blood and Kaname's mingling together on her tongue. He shoved her against the wall, hiking up her dress as she wrapped her legs around him, and when she sank her teeth into the side of his throat, she finally felt whole once again.

**.oOo.**

The Kuran mansion was a house of many secrets. Its walls groaned and trembled beneath their burden, ancient floorboards creaking piteously under their strain. Yuuki doubted it would endure much longer, bearing her bloody secrets as well.

"Are you going to kill me now?" she had asked him on his next visit, and the one after, and the one after that.

He would always arrive covered in blood, sometimes of a scent painfully familiar, and Yuuki would be certain that, this time, he had come to claim her life. But "no" he would always say in return, tossing the Bloody Rose aside like a pair of house keys as he pulled her to him.

He confused her, he thrilled her, but he never frightened her, regardless of his intentions. Between them was forged an unshakeable trust which had endured even beyond the loss of their humanity. So she gave herself to him, blood, body and soul, as she could never give to Kaname.

And even now, with Aidou's blood staining his Hunter's garb, Yuuki fell into his arms just the same. She cared for her friends, monster or not, and when he left, she would mourn Aidou's loss as she had mourned Kaname's.

_But not yet, not yet._

She sighed when Zero's mouth pressed hotly against the hollow of her throat, just barely nicking her with his fangs. Her fingers wove into his long, silver hair, urging him downward as she turned her head to the side, revealing the full expanse of her throat.

"Take me," she ordered breathlessly beneath him. "Take me, Zero."

A moment of hesitation, of denial, of shame. And then he plunged, driving into her, drinking long and deep, crashing into her like a wave. Yuuki braced herself and rose to meet him, fangs lancing the junction of his neck and shoulder, draining him as he drained her in a circle of blood and need.

And around them, the mansion's walls shuddered and gasped and struggled to hold together the secret world within them.

**.oOo.**

When Ruka showed up on her doorstep some years later, Yuuki was more than a little surprised. Especially when she saw the state her visitor was in. After much coaxing, Yuuki finally managed to lead the battered, shell-shocked woman to a sofa in her living room.

"He's dead, Yuuki-sama," she admitted after almost an hour of silent weeping. "My Akatsuki is dead."

A familiar chill settled in Yuuki's spine. "How did this happen?"

"That bastard Kiryu murdered him," she spat out, wiping furiously at the tear stains on her face. "I saw him do it. He—he killed Akatsuki with that gun of his and started to walk away. And when I went after him, he nearly killed me too."

Yuuki turned away slightly. "You're sure it was him?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Ruka exclaimed. "I saw him with my own eyes. You must believe me, Yuuki-sama."

"Why are you telling me this, Ruka?" Yuuki asked, frowning. "Why have you come here?"

The female vampire fell to her knees, grasping Yuuki's hand in her own. Startled, Yuuki snatched her hand away.

"Please, Yuuki-sama," Ruka begged, tears brimming once more in her eyes. "You must stop him. You are the only one who can."

"What makes you think I can do that?" Yuuki said sharply, rising from her seat. "He's the greatest Hunter in a thousand years."

"But you're a Pureblood—the last Pureblood. He's killed all the others." A sly smile darkened her pretty features. "And you were friends with him once, Yuuki-sama. He may hesitate to kill you."

Yuuki's hands curled into fists as she fought to control her anger. As if she would _ever_ betray Zero's trust.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Ruka, but I can't kill him."

"But, Yuuki-sama—"

"_No_. I won't hear any more of it."

After a few moments of tense silence, comprehension began to dawn in Ruka's eyes.

"You still care for him, don't you?" she said slowly, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "It's not that you can't kill him, but that you won't."

"Ruka…" Yuuki warned.

"So it _is_ true," she said quietly, rising to her feet. "You harbor feelings for that ex-human Hunter. How could you? Have you no respect for Kaname-sama's memory? He was murdered by Kiryu too—at this very house—and yet you stood by and did nothing. Perhaps you were simply waiting for Kaname-sama to die so you could welcome Kiryu into your bed."

"Enough!" Yuuki snapped, glaring daggers at Ruka. "You understand nothing."

And how could she? How could Ruka ever understand Yuuki's choices? Kaname had sought to possess her out of his own vast greed, manipulating her and lying to her for ten years in a twisted effort to gain her affections. And even when all of his machinations were finally laid bare before her eyes, she had still retained a measure of love for him. Yet he had never been under any illusion that she had given him her entire heart. She had been human once, had experienced love in its purest form, and the memory of that love could not be forgotten.

"Oh, I understand just fine," Ruka said darkly, her eyes flooding red. "You traitorous bitch."

Before Ruka could even think to strike, Yuuki's own eyes began to glow, and her opponent immediately collapsed to the floor, her arms and legs held fast by invisible ties.

"You forget your place, Ruka," Yuuki said stonily, releasing the winded vampire from her bonds. "Now, go."

Ruka left quietly, contempt still smoldering in her gaze, as Yuuki sank once more into her chair by the fire and whispered a prayer for the damned.

**.oOo.**

The seasons trickled by like grains of sand through an hourglass, each one as indiscriminate as the last. Yet Yuuki knew the world had changed, had grown lighter in some way. And then, one day, when Zero returned to the Kuran mansion with no sign of bloodshed upon him, Yuuki wondered, for the first time in ages, if her day of judgment had finally arrived.

His hands moved knowingly over her skin, far gentler than ever before, and she clung to him, certain now that this would be their last embrace. No fangs were bared, no blood was drawn between them, and Yuuki imagined that this is how it should have always been. Two lovers intimately entwined, united only by love and passion.

In a world without vampires, perhaps it could have been so.

"Zero," she asked softly afterwards, cradled against his chest, "am I the last?"

Zero shifted onto his side, bringing himself level with Yuuki. His lavender gaze locked with hers, and for once, she could see no trace of anger or hatred in his eyes. They seemed almost…peaceful.

"No, Yuuki, you aren't the last," he replied, pressing a kiss to her brow as he drew her closer. "We are."

And when she felt the Bloody Rose against her back, she held him tighter, tears of relief trailing down her ageless cheeks. Like a bell, the sound of gunfire rang out, clear and strong, heralding infinite peace.

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AN: Thanks for reading! If you like, please leave a review and let me know what you think!


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